Chinese Cayenne - Page 3

this is as gold as some of the comments that gets posted on MC. The Japanese literally taught the Europeans how to combine sporty handling with drivability.

Because Jaguar, Aston Martin and Bently didn't have that nailed in the 60's.

how far back do you want to trace to make your argument? Since the Europeans invented automobile as we know it, I won't have a counter argument for you, so please accept your victory.

You kid, but weren't table forks used in China during the bronze age? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...e_inventions#F

Chinese won't ever get where the Koreans and Japs are because the government is too involved in industry. It's like GM now. Plus the requirement that all foreign automakers enter into "joint ventures" with State-owned manufacturers means that the Chinese will never be able to think for themselves to make something interesting.

You will sooner see an auto industry come out of Taiwan than China.

The Chinese auto industry is in its infancy. However, it is startlingly large and advanced for how long it's been around.

The Taiwanese won't ever have an auto industry producing whole cars. To my knowledge, it's not part of any infrastructure planning the government does or something any large Taiwanese business could have competitive strength in.

I don't quite recall Toyota or Kia ripping off the designs of other carmakers during their road to quality.

China may eventually build a quality car, but at the current time they're not exactly seen as building anything of lasting value in the auto industry. A buddy of mine is on assignment in China and his company makes car parts. He drives a Buick Lacrosse and I suspect it's because being in the industry, he knows the lay of the land and consequently he has very little confidence in the quality of the Chinese autos. They might improve in the future but for now he sees them as unsafe deathtraps (his words, not mine).

N.B. He's even started to drive like a native born Chinese, which is pretty damn scary.

The world needs cheap reliable 4 wheel transportations. For anyone here who has been to Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, people still use bicycles and mopeds. The only 4 wheelers are for industries (moving wood, grain, construction materials). If the Chinese can make a cheap, highly reliable solar powered vehicle in the next 10 years, they will fill these markets quickly, allowing fresh capital to reinvest in R & D to compete against Western makers for the North American and European markets. No one needs a Bentley or Lambo but just about everyone needs a basic car. European manufacturing relies so much on "pedigree" that they stop inventing. All of the recent tech. innovations in just about every industry come out of Japan and USA. Crash safety is really a luxury consideration for the market that these Chinese cars are intended for. Many of the world's roads aren't made to go 60mph so crashing in a Chinese car at 15mph will not be all that bad. As for IP infringements, give me a frigging break. These cars are not made to be "alternatives" to certain makers. You can't blame them for commercializing a dream. And believe it or not, all of the "Chinese rip-offs" are designed by Europeans to import it back to the home market for big bags of $$$.

[quote=Ace Rimmer;3850769...He drives a Buick Lacrosse and I suspect it's because being in the industry, he knows the lay of the land and consequently he has very little confidence in the quality of the Chinese autos. They might improve in the future but for now he sees them as unsafe deathtraps (his words, not mine).

N.B. He's even started to drive like a native born Chinese, which is pretty damn scary. [/QUOTE]

You should tell to your friend that most of the cars in China are built in China. American and European brands included. He drives a deathtrap as the others do ...

Oh, I think he knows that his Buick isn't as made as well as a US made Buick. The GM joint venture that produced his Lacrosse at least gives one hope that the GM half of the venture can at least mitigate the poor quality of the Chinese half.

And who knows, he may be driving a Buick out of loyalty to his home country. It's not easy to buy American these days, but it can be done if one looks hard enough.

N.B. I'm hoping to travel to China to see my buddy again next year, as it's his last year on assignment to China. In 2009 he took me to see the Shanghai Auto Show, which was a real hoot.